1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electrical jack devices and is concerned more particularly with a ganged array of electrical jacks having space-saving terminal means disposed for resisting insertion pressures.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
An electronic system, such as a telephone communication system, for example, may be provided with a plurality of electrical jacks, each comprising a dielectric housing having an axial cavity wherein an electrical plug may be inserted for engaging respective spring contacts to open, close or otherwise change connecting electrical circuitry. Each of the electrical jacks may have its dielectric housing mounted on a printed circuit board by having an array of protruding terminals inserted into respective aligned holes in the dielectric panel of the printed circuit board. The terminals of the electrical jacks usually are mutually spaced in the respective array, and generally are made of stamped sheet-metal which is plated with suitable conductive material, such as gold, for example.
Since space on a printed circuit board generally is at a premium, the trend has been to use more miniaturized components and to position the associated arrays of terminal-receiving holes closer together. On the other hand, sheet-metal terminals of conventional electrical jacks restrict the extent to which these electrical jacks can be miniturized. Consequently, attempts have been made to dispose the electrical jacks in ganged arrays, such as in side-by-side relationship, for example, in order to position the associated arrays of mutually spaced holes in the printed circuit board closer together correspondingly. However, the amount that the mutually spaced holes can be positioned closer together in the printed circuit board is limited by the slotted configurations thereof required for receiving the sheet-metal terminals.